Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of Derby. The district contains four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent influenced by engineering, distribution and manufacturing, holding for instance the headquarters and production site of Thorntons confectionery.

The seat in the House of Commons of Amber Valley is of smaller scope.

The village of Crich and other parts of the district were the setting for ITV drama series Peak Practice.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of nine districts within Derbyshire. The new district covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:

• Alfreton Urban District
• Belper Rural District
• Belper Urban District
• Heanor Urban District
• Ripley Urban District

The new district was named Amber Valley, after the River Amber. Amber Valley was granted borough status in 1989, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

Governance

Amber Valley Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district council
Leadership
Mayor	Paul Lobley, Labour since 22 May 2024
Leader	Chris Emmas-Williams, Labour since 24 May 2023
Chief Executive	Simon Gladwin since December 2023
Structure
Seats	42
Political groups	Administration (26)   Labour (26) Opposition (16)   Conservative (8)   Green (5)   Belper Independents (2)   Liberal Democrats (1)
Elections
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Town Hall, Market Place, Ripley, DE5 3BT
Website
www.ambervalley.gov.uk

Amber Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Derbyshire County Council. Most of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

Labour won a majority on the council at the 2023 election, taking control from the Conservatives.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1976
	No overall control	1976–1980
	Labour	1980–1987
	No overall control	1987–1988
	Conservative	1988–1991
	Labour	1991–2000
	Conservative	2000–2014
	Labour	2014–2015
	Conservative	2015–2019
	Labour	2019–2021
	Conservative	2021–2023
	Labour	2023–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Amber Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2003 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Alan Cox		Conservative	pre-2003	17 Dec 2007
Stuart Bradford		Conservative	17 Dec 2007	11 Jun 2014
Paul Jones		Labour	11 Jun 2014	20 May 2015
Alan Cox		Conservative	20 May 2015	8 May 2016
Kevin Buttery		Conservative	25 May 2016	22 May 2019
Chris Emmas-Williams		Labour	22 May 2019	9 May 2021
Kevin Buttery		Conservative	19 May 2021	24 May 2023
Chris Emmas-Williams		Labour	24 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election and changes of allegiance and a by-election up to May 2024, the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
	Labour	26
	Conservative	8
	Green	5
	Belper Independents	2
	Liberal Democrats	1
Total		42

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council is based at Ripley Town Hall, which had been built in 1881 as a market hall and converted to a town hall for the former Ripley Urban District Council in 1907. A modern extension to the west of the building was added in the 1990s.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 42 councillors elected from 18 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Towns of Amber Valley

• Alfreton
• Belper
• Heanor
• Ripley

Main villages of Amber Valley

• Ambergate
• Codnor
• Crich
• Denby
• Duffield
• Heage
• Holbrook
• Horsley
• Horsley Woodhouse
• Kedleston
• Kilburn
• Langley Mill
• Lea & Holloway
• Mackworth
• Milford
• Quarndon
• Riddings
• Smalley
• Somercotes
• Swanwick
• Whatstandwell

Parishes

There are 35 civil parishes in the borough, covering almost the whole area. The exception is Riddings, which is an unparished area, being the only part of the former Alfreton Urban District not to have been subsequently added to a parish.

Arms

Coat of arms of Amber Valley

Notes Granted 18 October 1989 Crest On a wreath of the colours the battlements of a tower Proper issuant therefrom between two abbatical crosiers Or an oak tree Proper fructed and ensigned by a crown of fleurs-de-lys Gold. Escutcheon Vert a pale wavy Or a bordure Argent charged with five horseshoes Sable on a chief of the second between two lozenges a cresset Sable fired Proper. Supporters On the dexter side a unicorn Argent armed and crined Or gorged with a collar pendent therefrom a cross flory Gules and on the sinister side a leopard Proper gorged with a collar Gules pendent therefrom a fleur-de-lys Or. Motto Per Laborem Progedimur (We Make Progress Through Hard Work)

Media

In terms of television, the Amber Valley is served by BBC East Midlands and ITV Central broadcasting from the Waltham transmitter. Some north eastern parts of the district around Alfreton receive better television signals from the Emley Moor transmitter that broadcasts BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire programmes.

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

• BBC Radio Derby on 104.5 FM
• Smooth East Midlands on 101.4 FM
• Capital Midlands on 102.8 FM
• Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 106 FM
• Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Peak FM) on 102.0 FM
• Amber Sound FM, a community station that broadcasts from its studios in Ripley. The station broadcasts on 107.2 FM in the Amber Valley and online.

The local newspapers are the Ripley & Heanor News, Belper News and Derbyshire Times.

See also

• List of places in Derbyshire